Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has lamented the displacement of the values of honesty and hard work by the love for money and other material things, saying this was one of the causes of Nigeria’s problems.
The elder statesman said this on Friday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at the inauguration of Prof. Abayomi Oluwatosin Jiboku Building and Entrepreneurship Centre at the Lariken International College.
The former President opined that the amount of money, number of cars and houses built by individuals should not be used to determine their level of success but their positive contribution to society and the number of lives such people have affected.
Obasanjo said it was unfortunate that Nigerians had jettisoned the values of integrity, truthfulness, and love for one’s neighbors with the strong desire to get rich quickly and by all means.
He, however, maintained that nobody can buy his conscience, no matter the amount of money offered.
Obasanjo said, “One of the ways we have problems in our society today is the values we cherish. Money-making is the value now pervasive.
“In Yorubaland, money-making is not one of the values that we take to. Omoluabi, truthfulness, integrity, truth, industry, and hard work were our values. Where have they gone? Why have we put them aside and all we are striving for is money? Where is honor in our values?
“Nowadays, anyone who has money can buy anything but not with me. If you have money, you cannot buy my conscience and support for anything. In any case, if you have all the money in the world, of what purpose will it be?
“How do you describe success? I define success as you making a place better than you met it. It is not the amount of money you have, not the number of houses built, not the number of cars you have. It is how much you have contributed to making a place better than you find it.”
